Old Definition:
ADA Title III: Implementing Regulation
36.104 Definitions
Service animal means any guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including, but not limited to, guiding individuals with impaired vision, alerting individuals with impaired hearing to intruders or sounds, providing minimal protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, or fetching dropped items.
New Definition Effective March 15, 2011
Title III: Final Rule Amending 28 CFR Pt. 36: Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by Public Accommodations and in Commercial Facilities
Definition
Service animal means any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. Other species of animals, whether wild or domestic, trained or untrained, are not service animals for the purposes of this definition. The work or tasks performed by a service animal must be directly related to the handler's disability. Examples of work or tasks include, but are not limited to, assisting individuals who are blind or have low vision with navigation and other tasks, alerting individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to the presence of people or sounds, providing non-violent protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, assisting an individual during a seizure, alerting individuals to the presence of allergens, retrieving items such as medicine or the telephone, providing physical support and assistance with balance and stability to individuals with mobility disabilities, and helping persons with psychiatric and neurological disabilities by preventing or interrupting impulsive or destructive behaviors. The crime deterrent effects of an animal's presence and the provision of emotional support, well-being, comfort, or companionship do not constitute work or tasks for the purposes of this definition.
The most significant Change to the definition is that dogs are now the only recognized animal with the exception of miniature horses in some instances. The clarification of the role of a service animal can preform excluding protection or emotional support is a great step towards better understanding and acceptance.
The Dept. of Justice issued the following corrections to both title II and Title III. Linked below:
- Highlights of the Final Rule to Amend the Department of Justice’s Regulation Implementing Title II of the ADA
- Title II: Corrections to the Final Rule (HTML) Title II: Corrections (PDF) (as published in the Federal Register on March 11, 2011). This document corrects typographical errors and one substantive error reflected in certain sections of the rule relating to service animals. These corrections should be read together with the final rule published on September 15, 2010.
- Highlights of the Final Rule to Amend the Department of Justice’s Regulation Implementing Title III of the ADA
- Title III: Corrections to the Final Rule (HTML) Title III: Corrections (PDF) (as published in the Federal Register on March 11, 2011). This document corrects an inadvertent error in an instruction, the omission of some language in the rule, and an error reflected in certain sections of the rule relating to service animals. These corrections should be read together with the final rule published on September 15, 2010.
- New DOJ Small Business Brief
